Well, I just took my Prussian Mauser 71/84 in original 11.15x60R, serial # 4XXX from 1884, that I spent MONTHS restoring from a $21 badly rusted barreled receiver I got from SOG (amazingly all the markings were in great condition though!), into an ALMOST fully functional (Its currently a single shot, as the only part I cant find is a magazine follower ), all original parts (painstakingly scrounged and assembled over several months), out for the first time last saturday.What a hoot! 370gr LRN over 75gr of Goex Fg powder.A nice low, deep BOOM, VERY mild recoil, LOTS of thick white stinky (the good stinky ) smoke, and was even pretty accurate (as best I could tell, I had no rest, and only had a 40yd space to shoot, also forgot to bring anything to drift the front sight:banghead.This is now tied with my flintlock rifle, and my m1 Garand as my favorite rifles to shoot.I also like how it "fills the gap" as it were, between muzzleloaders and smokeless cartridge guns in the evolution of firearms. Sadly, I only have 10 pieces of brass, so I didnt really get to enjoy it for very long (or at a proper distance with a rest to see what it can REALLY do).Well, I'm hooked on BP, and BPCR's now, thats for sure.Oh well, what else better do I have to do with my time and money? Anything I have left when I die, the Gvt. will just take anyway, so might as well enjoy it now (oh, the wife DOES make me share some of the money with her, but that's ok ).Well, I'm off to order about 30 more pieces of brass and 100 or so more bullets for the next range trip!
ooo, almost forgot to add that the only thing I didn't really enjoy was the cleanup.Man, after only 10 rounds, this thing was 10 times dirtier than my flintlock after 20 or 30 rounds! TONS of thick, jet black, muck.Took LOTS of water, soap, solvent, and patches to get clean...but its still worth it.
For those interested, all total I have about $350 into the gun, which isnt too shabby, since they tend to start around $600 on the Auction Arms, Gunbroker, etc.
SOG still has these "relics" for sale last flyer I saw.If your looking for a fun, unique gun, and a fun, longer tern project, I HIGHLY recommend picking one up.This was the most extensive restoration/build/rebuild I'd ever done.Had a great time, learned a fair bit, and got to practice lots of different cleaning/assembly/restoration techniques.
for $21, mine came as a barrel, receiver, and trigger group.Thats all (oh and a few rusted screws holding a rotted thing that was one the buttstock, that had to be drilled/cut out)
Here she is an all her 120 year old glory:
ooo, almost forgot to add that the only thing I didn't really enjoy was the cleanup.Man, after only 10 rounds, this thing was 10 times dirtier than my flintlock after 20 or 30 rounds! TONS of thick, jet black, muck.Took LOTS of water, soap, solvent, and patches to get clean...but its still worth it.
For those interested, all total I have about $350 into the gun, which isnt too shabby, since they tend to start around $600 on the Auction Arms, Gunbroker, etc.
SOG still has these "relics" for sale last flyer I saw.If your looking for a fun, unique gun, and a fun, longer tern project, I HIGHLY recommend picking one up.This was the most extensive restoration/build/rebuild I'd ever done.Had a great time, learned a fair bit, and got to practice lots of different cleaning/assembly/restoration techniques.
for $21, mine came as a barrel, receiver, and trigger group.Thats all (oh and a few rusted screws holding a rotted thing that was one the buttstock, that had to be drilled/cut out)
Here she is an all her 120 year old glory: